The Hó-hé (Ho-hay) are the Assiniboins or "Stone-roasters." Their home is the region of the Assiniboin River in Manitoba. They speak the Dakota tongue, and originally were a band of that nation. Tradition says a Dakota "Helen" was the cause of the separation and a bloody feud that lasted for many years. The Hóhés are called "Stone-roasters," because, until recently at least, they used wa-ta-pe kettles and vessels made of birch bark in which they cooked their food. They boiled water in these vessels by heating stones and putting them in the water. The wa-ta-pe kettle is made of the fibrous roots of the white cedar interlaced and tightly woven. When the vessel is soaked it becomes water-tight. [Snelling's] Tales of the North-west, p 21, Mackenzie's Travels.
Hey-ó-ka is one of the principal Dakota deities. He is a giant, but can change himself into a buffalo, a bear, a fish or a bird. He is called the Anti-natural God or Spirit. In summer he shivers with cold, in winter he suffers from heat; he cries when he laughs and he laughs when he cries, etc. He is the reverse of nature in all things. Heyóka is universally feared and reverenced by the Dakotas, but so severe is the ordeal that the Heyóka Wacipee (the dance to Heyóka) is now rarely celebrated. It is said that the "Medicine-men" use a secret preparation which enables them to handle fire and dip their hands in boiling water without injury and thereby gain great eclat from the uninitiated. The chiefs and the leading warriors usually belong to the secret order of "Medicine-men" or "Sons of Unktéhee"—the Spirit of the Waters.
The Dakota name for the moon is Han-yé-tu-wee—literally, Night-Sun. He is the twin brother of An-pé-tu-wee—the Day Sun. See note 70.